Life Distracted Driving: Through the Eyes of a Trooper - Page 5

**Lzen** · 11:44 AM

It is Put The Brake On Fatalities recognition at KDOT. Just thought I'd pass this along. This is a subject that is very near and dear to me as I have been on road projects in the past. My son is now an employee at KDOT in Olathe. On Friday, someone slammed into the back of one of their trucks on a road project in KC. He was okay, just shaken up about it. I told him you gotta keep your head on a swivel out there.

Remember that the highway work zone is a person's work area. They have wife, husbands, kids, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters that love them and would like to see them again just like the rest of us.

http://ksdotblog.blogspot.com/2014/1...h-eyes-of.html

Distracted Driving: Through the Eyes of a Trooper

By Sage Hill

As a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper assigned to the Turnpike, you might expect my story to involve an accident that I personally worked. While it’s true that I have worked many horrific crashes, my personal involvement in this piece doesn’t place me at the scene of one. Let me explain.

On July 1, 2014, I was working a voluntary overtime day as part of federally funded program to enhance roadway safety during major travel holidays. Pretty early in the shift I noticed KTA maintenance crews were busy painting new roadway lines and stripes just north of the Oklahoma state line. Throughout the morning and early afternoon I stayed in the area so motorists could observe a patrol unit close to the crews, and I stopped several cars for various violations.

Later in the afternoon I was in a line of slow moving traffic passing the paint crew when I noticed a vehicle coming up from behind them very fast. The maintenance personnel were in the right lane painting, while multiple conspicuous warning signs and flashing lights directed traffic to slowly pass in the left lane. I looked at my own speed, under 40 mph, and then checked the vehicle I had been watching with radar. I was terrified by when I saw it was going 76 mph, and still in the right lane screaming up behind the maintenance vehicles.

“Unbelievable,” I thought to myself. How in the world could this guy not see all the flashing lights, warning signs, and other traffic that had slowed and moved to the other lane? As I paid closer attention, I thought I saw something in his hand above the steering wheel.

I continued to watch and observed no change. My radar gave a solid tone of 76 mph as the car was now only a short distance from the back of the rear truck in the consist of work vehicles. I was unable to warn the maintenance crew, and a very unusual sense of helplessness struck as I realized there was literally nothing I could do to change what I was seeing. Nausea began to settle into my gut and I took hold of my radio mic, preparing to place the request for additional help that I was sure I would need.

Then, with what I still believe were literally inches to spare, the vehicle jerked to left lane, narrowly missing the maintenance truck. The tone on my radar unit heaved and the display told me it had suddenly decreased speed in order to not strike the rear of the car in front of it. Swaying movements within its lane told me the driver was still trying to regain complete control after the sudden jerk to the other lane. As we passed the line of maintenance vehicles, I made an effort to calm down. Even though I was disturbed with what I had just seen- I would still need to be courteous when I stopped the driver of the vehicle.

Once we reached a safe spot past the work zone, I slowed to the shoulder and allowed the car to pass before turning on my red and blue lights to stop him. When I walked up, I saw a young man that was out of breath and had trembling hands. I was actually pretty pleased to see that he understood the gravity of what had just taken place. After making sure he was okay, I asked him what had happened. He was unable to construct a concise sentence due to his excited mental state, but nodded toward his phone that had been thrown to the other side of the car. I prepared a citation for failing to yield to a roadside maintenance crew, and soon he was on his way after assuming responsibility for over three hundred dollars in fines and the knowledge that he nearly killed himself.

The next morning I was drinking a cup of coffee in my home preparing for a day off when I saw something miserable on the news: A young woman had rear-ended a KTA paint crew in the very same area, and had lost her life as a result. Images from the scene depicted her destroyed car, and my fellow troopers that worked the crash said they strongly believe that texting was a contributing factor. All I could think about was how close the guy I stopped had come to suffering the same fate.

Driving is something many of us take for granted. We do it routinely for so many different reasons; it’s just another facet of our everyday lives that can seamlessly blend with the others. The same is true for our almost inexplicable need to be “connected” to the rest of the world. We simultaneously use our phones while we carry out countless other daily tasks, so it’s easy to allow it into our world while driving. I’m pleading with you – don’t. As a single 24-hour period in July can prove to you, the results can be horrendous.

I hope you never make us write that ticket. Even more, I hope you never make us work that crash.

Sage Hill is a Master Trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol – Troop G (KTA)

BucEyedPea · 10-06-2014, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baconeater

I'm sure that totally stops people from doing it.

It will some people. That is if they know about it. If someone is texting while driving I ask them not to if I am work/traveling. I won't do it. Not after getting a ticket for not having my seat belt on.

Just Passin' By · 10-06-2014, 05:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

You're on a govt built and paid for road or highway. Sorry, you can't tell the govt to **** off when you're on their property. Personally, I think texting while driving violates the rights of others since it puts them at risk. It causes accidents.

In four short sentences, you got property laws wrong, showed a completely lack of understanding of rights, and managed to mislead with the use of the word "causes" rather than the realistic "occasionally contributes to".

crazycoffey · 10-06-2014, 05:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

In four short sentences, you got property laws wrong, showed a completely lack of understanding of rights, and managed to mislead with the use of the word "causes" rather than the realistic "occasionally contributes to".

You're not exactly proving your knowledge either.....
Now off to DC with your debate

Just Passin' By · 10-06-2014, 06:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by crazycoffey

You're not exactly proving your knowledge either.....
Now off to DC with your debate

I wasn't debating. I made a one sentence comment. Someone responded with a host of errors. I pointed it out. End of story.

Enjoy tonight's game.

saphojunkie · 10-06-2014, 06:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guru

I just can't imagine ever getting to the point I would trust a computer to drive for me.

You ever fly in a plane?

saphojunkie · 10-06-2014, 06:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

38 states where the government should **** off.

So ****ing idiotic I can't see straight.

jd1020 · 10-06-2014, 06:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

You ever fly in a plane?

Not quite the same thing.

BucEyedPea · 10-06-2014, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Just Passin' By

In four short sentences, you got property laws wrong, showed a completely lack of understanding of rights, and managed to mislead with the use of the word "causes" rather than the realistic "occasionally contributes to".

Nope, driving while intexticated is another form of distraction and my daughter was crashed into while a man looked down at a text. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see it. People fall in fountains and walk into walls while texting too. I've seen it.

BWillie · 10-06-2014, 06:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jd1020

Some people make it blatantly obvious that they are texting. I've seen a girl driving with her forearms as she held her phone above the steering wheel typing away.

There's always a time stamp on text's so if you do get pulled over for texting when you weren't, you have proof when you go to court.

Pretty easily to delete that before the cop gets there, and then show them your phone and be like see, I wasn't texting.

**srvy** · 10-06-2014, 06:41 PM

Personally think there is a solution out there already if FCC and cellular providers were serious. Outlaw all phones without GPS. Then set the phone for movement more that a brisk walk to put the phone into pause until back under the minimum MPH. Make this that it cant be turned off or fiddled with. Any phone found hacked would lead to serious fines and loss of license for a determined amount of time.

BWillie · 10-06-2014, 06:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

You're on a govt built and paid for road or highway. Sorry, you can't tell the govt to **** off when you're on their property. Personally, I think texting while driving violates the rights of others since it puts them at risk. It causes accidents.

I agree. I just don't see how you enforce it. On the flip side, I think it's bullshit you can get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, or not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. That doesn't hurt anybody, but you. You should be able to do anything you want, as long as you aren't endangering others.

BucEyedPea · 10-06-2014, 06:43 PM

Thought I'd look up some statistics or studies done on distractions and driving just to see. I think we have a law on driving while impaired in Florida even.

https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-acci...tatistics.html

http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafet...acted_driving/

http://www.fcc.gov/guides/texting-while-driving

One study in the links: The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.

saphojunkie · 10-06-2014, 06:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jd1020

Not quite the same thing.

You think commercial pilots do jack shit?

BucEyedPea · 10-06-2014, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BWillie

I agree. I just don't see how you enforce it. On the flip side, I think it's bullshit you can get a ticket for not wearing a seat belt, or not wearing a helmet on a motorcycle. That doesn't hurt anybody, but you. You should be able to do anything you want, as long as you aren't endangering others.

I can see that. On the enforcement, well if they can enforce it on seat belts then I suppose they can see someone doing something while driving...just not always. I can see drivers doing it when I'm driving. Some have a hand on the wheel while holding the phone then they use the other hand. Unless someone single fingers it with the phone down out of view.

**007** · 10-07-2014, 04:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by saphojunkie

You ever fly in a plane?

I don't have a pilots license so no.

10-06-2014, 11:34 AM
Lzen Supporter Join Date: Feb 2001 Location: Jan Quadrant Vincent 16 Casino cash: $2170692	Distracted Driving: Through the Eyes of a Trooper It is Put The Brake On Fatalities recognition at KDOT. Just thought I'd pass this along. This is a subject that is very near and dear to me as I have been on road projects in the past. My son is now an employee at KDOT in Olathe. On Friday, someone slammed into the back of one of their trucks on a road project in KC. He was okay, just shaken up about it. I told him you gotta keep your head on a swivel out there. Remember that the highway work zone is a person's work area. They have wife, husbands, kids, mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters that love them and would like to see them again just like the rest of us. http://ksdotblog.blogspot.com/2014/1...h-eyes-of.html Distracted Driving: Through the Eyes of a Trooper By Sage Hill As a Kansas Highway Patrol Trooper assigned to the Turnpike, you might expect my story to involve an accident that I personally worked. While it’s true that I have worked many horrific crashes, my personal involvement in this piece doesn’t place me at the scene of one. Let me explain. On July 1, 2014, I was working a voluntary overtime day as part of federally funded program to enhance roadway safety during major travel holidays. Pretty early in the shift I noticed KTA maintenance crews were busy painting new roadway lines and stripes just north of the Oklahoma state line. Throughout the morning and early afternoon I stayed in the area so motorists could observe a patrol unit close to the crews, and I stopped several cars for various violations. Later in the afternoon I was in a line of slow moving traffic passing the paint crew when I noticed a vehicle coming up from behind them very fast. The maintenance personnel were in the right lane painting, while multiple conspicuous warning signs and flashing lights directed traffic to slowly pass in the left lane. I looked at my own speed, under 40 mph, and then checked the vehicle I had been watching with radar. I was terrified by when I saw it was going 76 mph, and still in the right lane screaming up behind the maintenance vehicles. “Unbelievable,” I thought to myself. How in the world could this guy not see all the flashing lights, warning signs, and other traffic that had slowed and moved to the other lane? As I paid closer attention, I thought I saw something in his hand above the steering wheel. I continued to watch and observed no change. My radar gave a solid tone of 76 mph as the car was now only a short distance from the back of the rear truck in the consist of work vehicles. I was unable to warn the maintenance crew, and a very unusual sense of helplessness struck as I realized there was literally nothing I could do to change what I was seeing. Nausea began to settle into my gut and I took hold of my radio mic, preparing to place the request for additional help that I was sure I would need. Then, with what I still believe were literally inches to spare, the vehicle jerked to left lane, narrowly missing the maintenance truck. The tone on my radar unit heaved and the display told me it had suddenly decreased speed in order to not strike the rear of the car in front of it. Swaying movements within its lane told me the driver was still trying to regain complete control after the sudden jerk to the other lane. As we passed the line of maintenance vehicles, I made an effort to calm down. Even though I was disturbed with what I had just seen- I would still need to be courteous when I stopped the driver of the vehicle. Once we reached a safe spot past the work zone, I slowed to the shoulder and allowed the car to pass before turning on my red and blue lights to stop him. When I walked up, I saw a young man that was out of breath and had trembling hands. I was actually pretty pleased to see that he understood the gravity of what had just taken place. After making sure he was okay, I asked him what had happened. He was unable to construct a concise sentence due to his excited mental state, but nodded toward his phone that had been thrown to the other side of the car. I prepared a citation for failing to yield to a roadside maintenance crew, and soon he was on his way after assuming responsibility for over three hundred dollars in fines and the knowledge that he nearly killed himself. The next morning I was drinking a cup of coffee in my home preparing for a day off when I saw something miserable on the news: A young woman had rear-ended a KTA paint crew in the very same area, and had lost her life as a result. Images from the scene depicted her destroyed car, and my fellow troopers that worked the crash said they strongly believe that texting was a contributing factor. All I could think about was how close the guy I stopped had come to suffering the same fate. Driving is something many of us take for granted. We do it routinely for so many different reasons; it’s just another facet of our everyday lives that can seamlessly blend with the others. The same is true for our almost inexplicable need to be “connected” to the rest of the world. We simultaneously use our phones while we carry out countless other daily tasks, so it’s easy to allow it into our world while driving. I’m pleading with you – don’t. As a single 24-hour period in July can prove to you, the results can be horrendous. I hope you never make us write that ticket. Even more, I hope you never make us work that crash. Sage Hill is a Master Trooper with the Kansas Highway Patrol – Troop G (KTA) Last edited by Lzen; 10-06-2014 at 11:44 AM..
Posts: 41,371

10-06-2014, 06:41 PM	#70
srvy Fight, build, win! Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: KC Casino cash: $1591250	Personally think there is a solution out there already if FCC and cellular providers were serious. Outlaw all phones without GPS. Then set the phone for movement more that a brisk walk to put the phone into pause until back under the minimum MPH. Make this that it cant be turned off or fiddled with. Any phone found hacked would lead to serious fines and loss of license for a determined amount of time.
Posts: 24,390

10-06-2014, 06:43 PM	#72
BucEyedPea Gimme My Berries Back! Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: None of your business Casino cash: $3389963	Thought I'd look up some statistics or studies done on distractions and driving just to see. I think we have a law on driving while impaired in Florida even. https://www.edgarsnyder.com/car-acci...tatistics.html http://www.cdc.gov/motorvehiclesafet...acted_driving/ http://www.fcc.gov/guides/texting-while-driving One study in the links: The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute found that text messaging creates a crash risk 23 times worse than driving while not distracted.
Posts: 161,927